Sep 22 – REVEAL CHRIST!

 “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?” (Mathew 7:16).

The grapevine alone will yield grapefruits and the fig tree alone will give fig fruits. A plant belonging to a particular variety will give only the fruit belonging to that particular variety. Jesus Christ said, “You will know them by their fruits” (Mathew 7:16).

When you accept Jesus Christ, you get attached to Him, who is the good grapevine. Old things disappear and all things become new. As you are attached to Christ and made to move with Him continuously, you will remain as one to reflect the characteristics of God. At that time, the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in you.

Jesus Christ said, “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits, you will know them” (Mathews 7:17-20). You should reveal the image and characteristics of God just like the fruits that exhibit the nature of the tree to which they belong.

Jesus Christ, during his entire life, was revealing God, the Father. The Scripture says, “…who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person” (Hebrews 1:3). Just because He was able to give the fruits of the Spirit, He was able to say clearly “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

When a servant of God visited a home, the husband and wife were quarrelling with each other. With all anger, the wife told the servant of God, “Pastor, my husband looks like an angel when he is in the church. But, when he is at home, he fights with me like a devil.” The husband said, “At least I am like an angel in the church. She is like a demon in both the house and the church. Living in the hell will be better than living with her.”

The Scripture says, “Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear fig? Thus no spring yields both saltwater and fresh. Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom” (James 3:11-13). Dear children of God, let your thoughts and deeds always remain as one to reveal Jesus Christ.

To meditate: “For the seed shall be prosperous, the vine shall give its fruit, the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew” (Zachariah 8:12).